Opinion Contributor

Democrats now see why tea party wants to delay Obamacare

The website failure looms like a metaphor for the law itself, the author writes. | Reuters

By JENNY BETH MARTIN | 11/5/13 9:09 PM EST

What a difference a few weeks make.

When congressional conservatives and Tea Party Patriots fought to delay Obamacare’s individual mandate during the debate over the partial government shutdown, Democrats engaged in some of the most incendiary name-calling Americans have heard in years. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California called opponents “arsonists.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called them “anarchists.” Other Democrats resorted to more colorful language, like “political terrorism,” and said their political foes were “guilty of murder.”

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That was then. Fast-forward to November and suddenly Democrats are advocating the conservative position. “Allowing extra time for consumers is critically important so they have the opportunity to become familiar with the [Obamacare] website, survey their options and enroll,” wrote New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a letter to President Barack Obama, calling for a delay in the individual mandate.

Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who said, “Given the technical issues, it makes sense to extend the time for people to sign up,” is setting a parallel tone, while Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is going so far as to help draft legislation to delay by a year the penalties facing people who do not buy government-mandated insurance. Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska is also calling for extending the individual enrollment period, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana are among 10 Democrat senators who have signed Shaheen’s letter to the president.

Whether these politicians are motivated by political survival or a desire to finally do what’s right for America is secondary to the truth betrayed by their actions. Obamacare is unworkable, and Democrats are finally beginning to acknowledge that the Tea Party Patriots were right all along.

The catastrophic failure of the Obamacare website looms like a metaphor for the destructive nature of the law itself. Not being able to log on to HealthCare.gov is one thing. Horrified Americans discovering that their health insurance is being canceled is another thing entirely — it put a lie to the promise of Obamacare itself. Just like the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have seen their insurance premiums go up in recent weeks, when their president promised Obamacare would save them $2,500 a year.

Obamacare has never been about health care; it is, and always has been, about power. That is why the White House keeps pressing on with a law that most Americans don’t want, amid widespread job cuts, canceled insurance plans and devastating loss of work hours many attribute to the Obamacare train wreck. Such is the allure of political power; it blinds politicians to the plight of the people they are supposed to represent.

But we’re beginning to see an evolution in the perception of Obamacare, both in terms of the terrible impact it’s having on the lives of Americans and the political fallout that comes from backing an equally terrible law. This evolution is also re-energizing grass-roots conservatives who fought so hard this year to save American families from shouldering the cost of this disastrous legislation.

Some members of the establishment punditocracy have suggested that conservatives and tea partiers and anyone who dares stand on principle should quietly slink away, give up on the country and lick their wounds after being trounced by the president and congressional Democrats last month. But events are multiplying and as they do, the innumerable problems with Obamacare are coming into focus. Ultimately, this is not about which political party wins and which loses; it’s about which policies improve the lives of Americans and which harm them.

It’s been said that good policy is good politics. The mirror image of that statement is also true; bad policy is bad politics. Democrats are awakening to this truth and they may have the courage to join with the “arsonists,” and “anarchists” who saw long ago the enormous harm that Obamacare would visit upon us. To which I say: Welcome to the tea party.